Understanding the Mood Swings in the Workplace: Is it the Mind Only That’s Got You or Your Employees Down?

As a consultant and trainer I look at all aspects of how to keep executives and their team’s resilience, engagement and purposeful actions at the optimum level. I have recently learned about something that is causing havoc in the office and homes of our teams. It’s a tiny butterfly-shaped gland at the base of your neck that can make your life Heaven or Hell, called the Thyroid, the chief of our endocrine system, which directs our entire metabolism. It secretes a hormone that acts as the “gas pedal” for all of our bodily organs and activities, especially the brain. As someone who works in the body/mind field I was intrigued to find out that a thyroid imbalance in any person, diagnosed or not, can cause mental and psychological symptoms. Any psychological condition can have thyroid as a cause or contributor. This is good information for us to know especially if we or our team members are dragging, feeling fuzzy and depressed more then usual.

If you are a person with a low thyroid you could be suffering from symptoms of low temperature, slow movements, low heart rate, slow digestion, slow speech, poor sleep, bad memory, slow thoughts, and low mood.  Maybe it’s more than your mind that’s got you down?

To explore this question I went to the Thyroid guru Dr. Richard Shames, who along with his wife and daughter wrote a revolutionary new best selling book, Thyroid Mind Power: The Proven Cure for Hormone-Related Depression, Anxiety, and Irritability (Rodale Books). Shames shared,  The reason for skyrocketing depression and foggy behavior is finally clear.  This silent epidemic is due to the growing pollution of our air, food, and water with hormone-disrupting synthetic chemicals and an astounding 1 in 10 Americans has some degree of thyroid imbalance and even a mild imbalance which can cause severe symptoms.

Shames suggests, “If you have troublesome mental symptoms, whether you are taking psychological medicine or not, whether doing psychotherapy or not, you may want to determine if thyroid imbalance is an issue for you. According to Shames, studies show that even mild forms of high and low thyroid are disturbingly significant.  You could have a mild thyroid imbalance and still have a tremendously difficult psychological problem as a result of that mild medical condition. Thus, thyroid malfunction encompasses aspects of both body and mind. Keeping the thyroid functioning properly can help you or your staff feel better fast. Allowing our thyroids to malfunction is wreaking havoc on our productivity. I suggest sharing this information with anyone you see dragging their feet lately.

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